Clone Wars Timeline Explained: When Each Season Takes Place (Including The Bad Batch)

The timeline of Star Wars: The Clone Wars is primarily set between Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. That said, some episodes have been released that take place outside of these basic parameters. In Star Wars, the timeline is measured around the Battle of Yavin, the major conflict seen in A New Hope, given the story is the first Star Wars movie in release order. Everything that happened before this is labeled as BBY, Before the Battle of Yavin, and everything subsequently is ABY, After the Battle of Yavin.

Attack of the Clones is set in 22 BBY, while Revenge of the Sith takes place in 19 BBY. While the Star Wars timeline can be difficult to grasp given the sheer amount of projects in the franchise, understanding The Clone Wars’ timeline is easiest when looking at these two prequel movies. In recent years, Disney's Star Wars TV shows have expanded the timeline of The Clone Wars, be it via season 7, which went beyond Revenge of the Sith, or via spin-offs like Star Wars: The Bad Batch and Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord.

How Long Were The Clone Wars In Star Wars

Despite these additions to the franchise, most episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars take place between 22 BBY and 19 BBY. At the end of Attack of the Clones, Yoda notes that "begun, the Clone War has." This war then lasted a total of three years, with Star Wars: The Clone Wars exploring all of the battles, assassination attempts, political developments, and major events of the titular conflict leading up to Revenge of the Sith.

22 BBY - The Clone Wars Seasons 1, 2, and 3

An unknown amount of time transpires between Attack of the Clones and The Clone Wars; the most important elements are told in Mike Chen's Brotherhood, which opens with the knighting of Anakin Skywalker and details initial encounters with Asajj Ventress. The Clone Wars starts, chronologically, with the episodes “Cat and Mouse” (episode number 2x16) and “Hidden Enemy” (1x16), and then progresses to the pilot movie, which was released theatrically. This story arc not only depicts the Battle of Christophsis but also introduces viewers – and Anakin Skywalker – to Padawan Ahsoka Tano.

There are 16 more episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars that take place in the year 22 BBY. These episodes cover events such as the Galactic Republic convincing Toydaria to side with it over the Confederacy of Independent Systems, General Grevious’ deployment of an experimental warship equipped with ion cannons, and the capture of Dooku, Kenobi, and Skywalker by a charmingly unscrupulous pirate, Hondo Ohnaka. Also, Jar Jar Binks gets mistaken by Separatist forces as a Jedi Knight in one of the worst-rated episodes of the entire series.

The final installment set in the same year that Attack of the Clones occurs, 22 BBY, is “Trespass.” This standalone chapter tells an isolated story from the titular Clone Wars, though it is nonetheless thematically related. The episode involves the Jedi having to help mediate a brewing war between the Pantorans and the newly discovered “primitive” tribe of the Talz. After this, the show moves into the next calendar year in the Star Wars galaxy, and the second year of the Clone Wars.

21 BBY - The Clone Wars Seasons 1, 2, and 3

The first full calendar year of the Clone Wars is wrapped up in the back half of the first season. However, given that many of Star Wars: The Clone Wars' episodes originally aired out of chronological order, some of these individual installments are spread out further into the conflict. To simplify things, though, 21 BBY starts with “Blue Shadow Virus” (1x17). In this episode, a Confederate-backed scientist secretly attempts to weaponize a long-thought-extinct plague on the peaceful planet of Naboo.

Further episodes in 21 BBY go on to encompass the liberation of Ryloth and the reawakening of the massive Zillo Beast on Malastare. Furthermore, the second Battle of Geonosis and the reappearance of young Boba Fett now under the tutelage of Aura Sing take place in the latter stages of 21 BBY. Boba Fett’s return showcases the bounty hunter seeking his revenge against Jedi Master Mace Windu for the murder of his father, Jango Fett, which continued to have an impact on Boba into Star Wars' New Republic era.

However, the biggest and most consequential storyline of 21 BBY is the introduction of Mandalore into galactic proceedings for the first time in over a millennium. In this first three-part narrative, audiences get to meet sister Duchess Satine Kryze, the former would-be flame of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Also introduced is the splinter terrorist group of Death Watch, which has secretly allied with the Separatists to overthrow Satine and her government. 21 BBY ends with “Senate Murders” (2x15), the episode that sees Senators Padmé Amidala and Bail Organa investigating a string of murders within the Congress of the Galactic Republic.

20 BBY - The Clone Wars Seasons 3, 4, and 5

20 BBY starts with Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ biggest storyline yet: Darth Tyranus’ attempted murder of his protégé, Asajj Ventress. Ventress then retaliates by involving her newly reacquainted Nightsisters. This storyline formally introduces the Force cabal into the Star Wars mythos, and it also ends with the dramatic revelation that Darth Maul is still alive somewhere out in the galaxy. 20 BBY then goes on to deliver the fate of the Chosen One through the mysterious Mortis arc and sees a Jedi-led assault on the impenetrable fortress of the Citadel wherein Master Skywalker and Captain Wilhuff Tarkin first meet.

20 BBY also gives viewers their first chronological introduction to both Chewbacca, when he and Ahsoka are abducted by Trandoshan hunters, and Captain Gial Ackbar, who fights with the Republic to stave off a Confederate-backed attempt to start a civil war. This year also houses the first Separatist plot to kidnap Sheev Palpatine and shows how the fallen Maul is brought back to mental and physical shape. Meanwhile, on Onderon, Anakin teaches Saw Gerrera how to fight an insurgent war. Ultimately, 45 episodes of The Clone Wars take place in 20 BBY: “Nightsisters” (3x12) to “Point of No Return” (5x13).

19 BBY - The Clone Wars Seasons 5, 6, and 7

In Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ timeline, the year that ultimately includes Revenge of the Sith is 19 BBY. The vast majority of the story arcs during this year take place before the final Star Wars prequel movie, though the last four episodes of season 7 occur simultaneously with and even after the events of the film. This decision better contextualizes Revenge of the Sith while also allowing for closure regarding The Clone Wars’ beloved characters after the show was prematurely canceled in its original run.

30 installments of Star Wars: The Clone Wars begin 19 BBY and build inexorably to Revenge of the Sith, spanning “Revival” (5x01) to “Old Friends Not Forgotten” (7x09). This begins with Darth Maul's decision to formally take on an apprentice in the form of his brother in an attempt to undermine Darth Sidious. He assembles the Shadow Collective, which is built around Mandalore’s Death Watch, until he is defeated by Lord Sidious himself and imprisoned in a secret Separatist prison, with his journey to season 7 outlined in several Clone Wars comic books and graphic novels.

Later in 19 BBY, the Padawan Ahsoka Tano leaves the Jedi Order behind while a clone trooper named Fives discovers the hidden presence of inhibitor chips in the clones’ brains. These chips have already been programmed with Order 66, yet Fives is unable to unmask Palpatine’s plan before he is killed. In the same year, the Jedi Council realizes that the true identity of the mysterious man named Tyranus is really Count Dooku and that he and his Sith master have been plotting the entire Clone Wars from the very beginning.

This revelation eventually leads to another consequential arc in 19 BBY. This arc involves Yoda embarking on a Force-sensitive quest that allows a far deeper, more consequential understanding of the world around him. This quest ensures the ultimate preservation of the Order throughout the entire Star Wars saga as Yoda discovers how to retain his consciousness after dying, a lesson partially instructed to him via the spiritual remnants of Qui-Gon Jinn.

In the last four episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7, viewers get the chance to see Revenge of the Sith from Ahsoka's perspective. The young Padawan, despite no longer being a member of the Jedi Order, leads the liberation of Mandalore from Darth Maul's tyrannical grasp. By the end, both of the former apprentices manage to escape the death of the Old Republic and the birth of the Galactic Empire to fight another day.

19 BBY to 18 BBY - Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 1

Star Wars: The Bad Batch is considered the spiritual successor to The Clone Wars, after season 7 of the latter introduced Clone Force 99, a Republic commando squad of mutant clones. Their own show begins with the Bad Batch failing to obey Order 66 due to malfunctions with their inhibitor chips. Taking place over a year between 19 BBY and 18BBY, The Bad Batch ends with the Empire destroying the planet of Kamino, along with its main cloning facilities, in an effort to push Palpatine's stormtrooper program and decommission the clones.

18 & 17 BBY - Star Wars: The Bad Batch Seasons 2 & 3

The Clone Wars’ timeline is further expanded by The Bad Batch season 2. Following the Imperial Strike at Kamino, The Bad Batch season 2 continues the story of Clone Force 99. In 18 BBY, viewers are introduced to the pirate Phee Genoa who takes a keen interest in Clone Force 99's genetic mutations. The Bad Batch season 2 ends with Omega captured. The Bad Batch season 3 takes place some months after the ending of season 2, enough time for Clone Force 99 to repeatedly scour the known galaxy for Omega.

This sees the clone conspiracy advance, with the squad eventually uncovering the cloning facility on Wayland. It's reasonable to put this in 19 BBY. At the end of The Bad Batch season 3, a flash forward shows a now-grown Omega joining the Rebel Alliance as they rise up to fight the Empire. This places the final scenes of the show in around 0 BBY, lining up with the beginning of the very first Star Wars from 1977.

17 BBY Onwards - Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord

The latest spin-off of The Clone Wars was Maul - Shadow Lord. This show bridges the gap between Maul's survival of Order 66 during The Clone Wars season 7 in 19 BBY and his cameo appearance in Solo: A Star Wars Story, set around 10 BBY. It chronicles Maul's rise from a lowly criminal to an underworld crime lord and the leader of Crimson Dawn. Although only one season has been released so far, which takes place in 17 BBY, it is clear that future seasons will further take Maul into the Star Wars timeline, thus moving closer to 0 BBY.

Why Working Out The Clone Wars Timeline Is So Difficult

The primary reason why figuring out Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ timeline is so difficult is that the show frustratingly aired in non-chronological order. However, now that the series has completed its run on Disney+, it is possible to sort everything out within the larger timeline of a galaxy far, far away. The writers behind Star Wars: The Clone Wars were in a unique position to flesh out previously unknown events in the franchise’s timeline, which is essentially the root of the confusion regarding the show’s viewing order.

What has proven surprisingly hard since the show aired, however, is discerning when these years pass in the context of the story. As the series already starts with Anakin Skywalker being a Jedi Knight and Obi-Wan Kenobi being a Jedi Master, it is difficult to get a natural sense of the passing of time. It does not help that the chronology was originally kept opaque because the creators behind the production did not know how long The Clone Wars would be on the air.

Since Disney purchased Lucasfilm, took stewardship of everything Star Wars, and brought about the end of the franchise’s very first television show, the company has also been able to look back and retroactively assign a date to every episode. The correct watch order of The Clone Wars was added to StarWars.com in 2014. Now, it is easy to discern when each episode of the beloved Star Wars: The Clone Wars takes place, as well as its spin-offs, Star Wars: The Bad Batch and Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord.